Do You Ever
by OurGloryDays
Summary: Finland was getting rather frustrated, what with Sweden not understanding his subtlety and all; but I guess asking your best friend if he is still in love with you isn't the easiest thing to say either... So if Finland is asking, why is he the one getting so worked up? SuFin


"Do you ever…" Finland began, skipping a rock across the still lake, "wonder?" He looked over his shoulder to Sweden.

"Wonder?" Sweden sat up, the sky and clouds much less interesting than Finland's own face and company.

"Yeah," Finland reclined to the earth, "what the others think?" He turned his head, eyeing Sweden's back, the curve of his spine and shoulders as the taller slowly allowed himself to lie back down on the soft earth. "Of us?" He added, not sure of how Sweden might read into his use of the word 'us'.

"O' us?" He spoke, softly and so characteristically Sweden. Finland silently wondered if the reason Sweden no longer called him his wife was because the feelings that Sweden would so subtly express were no longer there.

As Sweden's head made contact with the Earth, Finland decided to redirect his attention to the sky, hoping to steal a few sidelong glances at Sweden's profile, to admire his masculine jawline, the direct and cutting angle of his nose, his unreadable eyes. Finland thought for a moment before speaking again, thinking of what Sweden might think of him if he simply took the initiative and placed a loving kiss upon his lips, or less boldly slipped his hand into the others.

"Like," Finland decided that it would be best to separate them, they were not together after all, "I wonder what Japan thinks of me, or you…" Finland sighed, rolling his eyes in spite of himself being unable to convey the question he really wanted to ask of Sweden.

"Japan?" Sweden's tone betrayed uncertainty, and Finland wondered if Sweden really ever bothered to think about what others thought of him. "Why's i' matter?"

"I mean," Finland began drumming his fingers on his abdomen, hearing a hollow echo throughout his body, "it's not like it _really_ matters what Japan thinks…"

"Did 'e say somethin' to ya?" Sweden's brow perked and Finland smiled faintly- that was cute, Sweden's look of concern. Finland decided it might be all right to look back at Sweden.

"No… I just wonder." Finland's eyes met Sweden's and suddenly breathing became much more troublesome. Suddenly, looking at Sweden, so close to him and open, lying in the grass with the sun behind him, he realized that he would just be confusing Sweden, so he decided to just give up the conversation- he'd have to figure out what Sweden thought of him some other way. "Just, never mind, Sve."

Finland refocused on the sky, lowering his hands from his abdomen and to the soft earth, threading his fingers in the grass and pressing the pads of his fingers to the cool soil. He was disappointed in himself, unable to look Sweden in the eye and ask if he still loved him, unable to admit to himself that he had always loved Sweden but that he never pictured himself falling in love- ever.

Letting his eyes close, he let his other senses take over, and soon he could hear the winds whispering and rolling off the mountains before he felt them chilling his exposed arms and face. He heard the gentle lapping of the lakes' water on the pebbly shore and the echo of a trucks horn from somewhere definitely beyond sight. But what he hadn't heard was the crinkling and swishing of grass that would have accompanied Sweden's head returning to gazing at the sky.

Opening his eyes, he glanced subtly at Sweden, and much to his surprise, found their eyes meeting, Sweden sitting propped up on one elbow and gazing gently down at Finland. A blush developed on his cheeks, a shiver up his spine, and he quickly sat up, picking another pebble up from the bank and unsuccessfully skipping it across the lake.

"Japan?" Sweden's voice sounded of worry. "Wha' did he say t'ya?" Sweden sat up further and pressed his lips together firmly, Finland wished he knew what Sweden was thinking.

"No, no," Finland shakes his head, "Japan didn't say anything, I was just thinking."

"Thinkin' bout?" Sweden answered faster than Finland thought he would.

"Uh," Finland choked on his words, cleared his throat and began again, "I mean I have opinions of everyone so I was just wondering if you had opinions of everyone too."

"Hm," Sweden pondered this, looking away from Finland, at the lake, at the grass, and eventually back to Finland's eyes, "ja, I s'ppose I do."

"Oh." Finland couldn't find the strength to ask the question he most wanted to.

"Wha' did Japan say to ya Fin?" Sweden reiterated slower, in a more hushed, secure tone.

"Nothing, really." Finland picked up another rock, threw it, and again failed at skipping it.

"Ya promise beca'se 'f he said somethin' I can talk t' him fer ya…" Sweden picked up a stone and held it in his hand, eyeing it with an expression that Finland couldn't read.

"No, Sve…" Sweden tosses the rock, watching as it skips three times on the glassy surface of the lake. "Japan never said anything, I was just being stupid."

"You, Fin, stupid?" Sweden appeared to chuckle, returning his (perfectly intense to outsiders, but sweet and compassionate to Finland) eyes to Finland's face. "Never." He whispered. Their eyes connected, and as soon as Finland thought Sweden might be slowly leaning in for a kiss, he looked down and cleared his throat.

"Actually," Finland, smiling and finding confidence in what he was sure was almost a kiss, decided he might as well confess, "I have been very stupid."

Sweden froze, brows furrowing and intently looking at Finland's face. "So he did say somethin' to ya?"

"No! Not Japan!" Finland was getting rather frustrated, why was Sweden so fixated on Japan?! "Sweden, I was wondering what you thought of me!"

Finland stops before he says anything more. Breathing out, he tries to look calm, and fixes his eyes on the horizon for a moment, before turning in Sweden's direction, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"You don't actually have to answer that." Finland mumbles and feels his heart racing, before sighing and picking up another pebble. He toys with it in his hand for a moment before yet again unsuccessfully skipping it across the lake water.

The duo fall into an uncomfortable, awkward silence, neither saying a word until Sweden picks up a rock and holds it in his hand, caressing the surface with his thumb as one might do when they are deep in thought.

He clears his throat and Finland still finds himself unable to look at Sweden. He knows it's over between them – Hell, he was the one who claimed independence in the first place. Really, what did he do to deserve Sweden's love?

Finland watches as Sweden perfectly skips another rock. Rolling his eyes, he feels more frustrated, and simply wants to leave. Sweden's silence is the answer he didn't want to hear.

"Fin, I…" Sweden sighs, "you-"

"Please, it's really ok, I was just being stupid." Finland interrupts, finally making eye contact with Sweden. If Finland thought he'd seen every side of Sweden before, he was wrong. He had never seen Sweden with such a hopeful, yet hesitant and confused look on his face.

Finland didn't know what to do – had he just cut off Sweden's love confession?

"But if you…" Finland paused, searching Sweden's eyes with a blush developing he knew there was no point in hiding, "…if you want me to listen, I will."

Finland watches as Sweden's Adam's apple bobs up and down, he is on edge as Sweden's mouth opens because he knows this might be the only time Sweden will say what he really feels. Finland can't help but look at him with doe-eyes, hoping Sweden can see through the windows to his soul and realize that he loves Sweden with every fiber of his being.

"Fin, you're-" Sweden pauses, holding his words in and looking, searching Finland's beautiful eyes, "you're not stupid." Sweden leans nearer to Finland, and Finland sees the blush on his cheeks, the small worry lines wrinkling his face as he raises his brows but looks down and for some reason breaks eye contact. He mumbles, "Wouldn't love ya all these years if I thought so…"

Sweden looks hurt and dejected as he picks up another pebble. Wasting no time, Finland doesn't even think about what he says next.

"I love you too, Sweden." This time, it's Sweden's turn to unsuccessfully skip a pebble (more like have the pebble fall out of his hand), as he is visibly thrown off guard by Finland's words and slowly, smiling, turns to face Finland

Finland smiles, wrapping his arms around Sweden's torso, whispering, "I mean it," and pulling the two of them back to the soft Earth.

Finland really wasn't sure he could love Sweden any more until that man so tenderly kissed his lips that day.

~*~*and they lived happily ever after*~*~

* * *

Eh heh sorry lads and lassies I'm just one big sap. :')

**Xoxo, OurGloryDays**


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